I was never a supporter or proponent of Chavez or his policies. Truth be told, I wasn't super familiar with them. All I've known is that (far-) lefties loved him and most everyone else hated him. I frequently heard both perspectives on the populist leader but never felt that I was getting a reasonably unbiased take. So I never did form my own opinion. Same with Castro and the Cuban Revolution.

But I can at least say that I never agreed with (or understood) Chavez's constant and often disingenuous demonization and/or scapegoating of the US. I do understand that the US has (directly or indirectly) done a lot of evil in South and Central America (see School of the Americas, for one). I understand that this intervention continues today, at the behest of multi-national corporations based in the US, under the guise of so-called free trade agreements, by the exploitation of the poor and indigenous people in those countries. Thus I totally agree that Latino people have plenty of legitimate grievances against the US government, corporations, and a largely complacent populace; but conscientious Latinos can just be angry about the reality (it's bad enough, I think) without fabricating one (as Chavez often did).

I'm sure that in the wake of Chavez's death, folks will have much to say about him and his policies. Some will say that his revolution helped no one and ultimately failed everyone. This is no more evident, they will say, than in his proudly touted health care systems which couldn't save even him. Meanwhile, a few others in the US will continue to celebrate what they regarded as great achievements in social justice and human rights.

For my own part, as we push our civil discourse forward, I simply wish to challenge us. We ought to consider:

Even if Chavez's policies failed, are ours faring much better? Is Capitalism doing more good for more people in the US than Chavez's attempts at socialism did for the people of Venezuela? If we understand the reality of wealth inequality in America today, then to both questions we must answer a resounding no.

As the video above aptly demonstrates, we have plenty of our own issues to deal with here in the US. And I'm not saying that socialism is the answer for us; but I strongly suggest that before we defame Chavez and his revolution, we remember that our shit is stinking pretty bad too... perhaps a smell too akin to sulfer?

I'm working on a slideshow for Pax Americana. During the harmonica solo there will be some scrolling statistics regarding sweatshops, exploitation, and poverty. Here's the song first so you can get a better idea about the themes:

...aaand here are the statistics. Marinate in these for a little while. Go ahead, let them impact you.

There are 306 million children in employment between ages 5-17, nearly 20% of all children worldwide.

Almost 40% of these are involved in "hazardous work," many of them turn to sweatshops.

85% of sweatshop workers are young women between the ages of 15-25. They do not earn enough to provide for basic needs, spending 50-75% of their income on food alone.

For less than 1% of Nike’s advertising budget, wages could be doubled for workers. Almost 75% of the retail price of a garment is pure profit.

Still US companies demand low prices from suppliers. Such pressure creates incentive to cheat on labor standards.

Politicians must also remain confined within policy parameters dictated by global markets and competition.

Thus the US gives much foreign aid to countries whose poverty is directly linked to exploitation by US businesses operating abroad.

The world produces enough food to provide every human at least 2,720 kilocalories per day. Yet 1 in 7 people are hungry, nearly all of them in developing countries.

The wealthiest 20% of the world accounts for three fourths of total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%.

Our society has unwittingly supported what has amounted to plunder of the poorest regions of the world.